Italian Exports Reach Post-2002 High

ROME – Italy’s gross domestic product may be declining but exports are buoyant. And for the first time in the last decade, the 2012 aggregate balance of payments shows an €8.8 billion surplus thanks to 5% growth in the value of exports and shrinking imports.

The news comes from the restructured foreign trade institute, ICE, which points out that by the end of 2015, Italian-made goods could generate €150 billion-worth of additional exports, bringing the total to an extremely respectable €620 billion. Development minister Corrado Passera illustrated the success of Italian manufacturing at ICE headquarters, where he was presenting the institute’s three-year plan. In attendance was prime minister Mario Monti, visibly satisfied at the prospect of an “export bank that guarantees competitively priced resources and insurance for Italian companies that export or invest abroad”.

ISTAT, Italy’s national statistics institute, unveiled the final figures for the first three quarters of 2012. Exports rose by 4.3%, a sharp slowdown in comparison with 2011, when there was a 12% spike. Last year, the balance of payments was rescued by the performance of non-EU markets, with average exports up 10% against -0.1% in Europe. As ICE president Riccardo Monti laid out the 2013-2015 plan to bolster the structure, beef up promotional tools and extend concessions to encourage company growth, his namesake and prime minister Mario took the opportunity to list some of the previous government’s clumsier efforts.

He started out ironically: “Some people sought to boost exports by abolishing ICE and, with what was perhaps an innovative vision of internationalisation, by setting up ministerial offices in Monza”, a reference to the Northern League’s controversial decision. Mr Monti went on to say that on his visits abroad in recent months he had been told “it has been years since we last saw an Italian minister or prime minister”. The PM then noted that multinationals “do not offer solely low-quality jobs and I do not believe that they bring worse labour conditions or practices”. This was a veiled reference to the row between McDonald’s and the CGIL union federation. Mr Monti said: “These investments should be viewed with more open eyes. If they are based on serious industrial plans, if they create new facilities, they create new opportunities for everyone”.

Mr Monti’s invitation to set up an “export bank” was taken up by the CEO of the Cassa Depositi e Prestiti industrial holding company, Giovanni Gorno Tempini, when he confirmed that the Cassa is already converting the already launched export bank “from a convention into a more effective operating tool”. Particularly striking among the many figures released yesterday is the growth of food (+8%), which at €27 billion is the country’s leading export sector.